Almond Kisses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, with rack in middle position

1 ½ cups melted butter (3 sticks)

2 cups white sugar (granulated)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teasponn almond extract

⅛ cup molasses (2 tablespoons)

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt (if you use salted almonds, cut the salt to ½ teaspoon)

1 ½ cups finely ground almonds (grind them up in your food processor with the steel blade- they don’t have to be blanched)

2 beaten eggs (just whip them up with a fork)

4 cups flour (no need to sift)

13 oz. bag Hershey’s Kisses (or small squares of milk chocolate)

Microwave the butter in your mixing bowl to melt it. Add the sugar, the vanilla, the almond flavoring, and the molasses. Stir until it’s blended, then add the baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well.

Grind up the almonds in your food processor. Measure after grinding. Add them to the bowl and mix. Pour in the beaten eggs and stir. Then add the flour and mix until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended.

Let the dough firm up for a few minutes. Then form it into walnut-sized balls and arrange them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet.

Cut the Hershey’s Kisses in half (from the top down, so that each half has a point and a base). Press the halves into the middle of your cookie balls, cut side down. They’ll look pretty on top as a yummy decoration. If you want to splurge a little, press a whole Hershey’s kiss into the center of the dough ball, base down and point sticking up. (If you do splurge, you’ll need double the amount of Hershey’s Kisses.)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden. (Don’t worry- the Hershey’s Kisses won’t melt.) Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Yield: 10 to 12 dozen cookies, depending in cookie size. (If that’s too many just cut the whole recipe in half.)